Actually, I am not exactly a social media enthusiast. In general, I read whatever is forwarded on the wapp groups (I am on very few, anyways) and the Telegram groups. Both these I have joined due to professional reasons. I may read an interesting tweet or a news item if it pops up on the general google search. I am not on the FB in a big way either. Mostly I do not watch the short videos on the FB.
Today was an exception though. I came across this short video about a dog. As it is, I love dogs. In my opinion, they are much, much better than many a human beings. In this particular video, a dog saw a dying pup. He tried to help the small one. To no avail though. The dog held the dead pup in its jaws and took the carcass to the nearby field.
He started digging a hole, kept on measuring it literally till the trench was big enough. Once the pit was big enough, he put the pup in it. What moved me to tears was the fact that he pushed the loose soil on the dead body not with his paws, but with his nose using it almost like a snout till the dead body was properly covered. Wondrous it was to watch as he never even once used the forepaws though he had obviously used them to dig up the soil. There were tears in his eyes once the body was convered fully. The dog did not appear particularly trained, but what great solemnity in the face of death!
Compare it with the human behaviour. Even with the dead body just around, people continue to check their mobiles, they are not averse to loose talk, gossiping, cracking silly jokes. Till the funeral pyre is getting ready, I have myself heard women talking of ear-rings! The daughters-in-law continue chitchatting and gossiping even when they have just heard that their gentle mother-in-law died in another town. Rituals are finished off as a mere formality.
Why such callous indifference? Death is terrible. It is a stomach churning feel to realise that you would never ever get to see, hear, feel, touch this person whom you loved desperately. Death is a void forever, a vaccum that nothing can ever re-fill. In the face of such finality, why not be decent? Well, most human beings are hardly worth being called one! Animals, especially dogs, are anyday much better, though human beings choose to call 'them' beastly!
Pratima@"Our dead are never dead to us," says Mary Ann Evans, "unless we choose to forget them."
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